When the storm cleared in Thurles on Sunday, Limerick were still in one piece. There may have been slates flying in all directions and gutters hanging down, but the four-in-a-row champions still had a roof over their heads.
As ever, they found a forward to shoot the lights out. Séamus Flanagan went from a moderate, one-point tally in Ennis when the teams had met a couple of weeks previously to eight points from play – plus three wides.
Manager John Kiely emphasised that the corner forward had been coming back from a broken thumb in that match.
The engine of the team though remained the defence and the manager acknowledged that contribution. “We’d control for long, long periods of the game. Got caught with a few frees here and there but overall, I’d have to be happy with how we defended. I thought we got great numbers back behind the ball.”
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At times under severe pressure from Clare’s well-orchestrated moves and their success at finding space to shoot and accuracy in shooting, the champions’ backs rode the punches and regrouped.
By the end they had taken sufficient hold on the match to get their running game back into play and relentlessly working the ball through the lines.
Wing back Dan Morrissey was asked about this backs-to-the-wall mentality, which had sustained them.
“It’s having trust in the people around you and everything you’ve done in the past and not to panic. The few times Clare went ahead, we never panicked bit stuck to the game plan. We all knew our jobs and that’s the most important thing over the last few years when we’ve come out on the right side of a few tight games.
“That’s what we did this time. Stuck to the process when things weren’t going our way. I know the first half on puck-outs, Clare were winning a lot of breaking ball. We just had to keep faith in the game plan. Thankfully, it paid off in the end.”
The match also had historical as well as contemporary relevance. Captain Declan Hannon was presented with the new Mackey Trophy in its first outing as the prize for the Munster hurling champions.
It’s not Limerick’s first experience of such things. The MacCarthy Cup was presented to the GAA for All-Ireland hurling champions in 1923. Liam MacCarthy was born in London to an Irish family – his mother was from Limerick.
Because of the delays of the time, caused by the War of Independence, the 1921 championship didn’t conclude until two years later. As a result, Limerick’s Bob McConkey became the first captain to lift the trophy on March 4th, 1923 after defeating Dublin.
Morrissey doesn’t pretend that there was a specific motivation but there was a personal connection to the great Mick Mackey through their club.
“There wasn’t, to be honest. Every time you win a Munster title, it’s a super achievement. Obviously, the Mackey Cup – myself and Tom (his brother) and Ciarán (Barry) are from Ahane so it maybe meant a bit more to us being the first year.”
He also noted the difference between the final in a packed Thurles and the Covid provincial finals of the last two years, especially the 2020 event held in the winter and with no spectators allowed to attend.
“It was an electric atmosphere out there. When we played Waterford two years ago behind closed doors, it was great to win a Munster but it was a bit of an anti-climax with no crowd there to celebrate whereas this time, as much as you try to concentrate on the game and the guys around you and the person you’re marking, it’s very hard to ignore the atmosphere in the stadium, particularly walking around in the parade before the game.”
They march on. If there is any complacency, it will be swiftly cured by reflecting on what happened three years ago when having buried Tipperary in the Munster final, they ended up losing an All-Ireland semi-final to Kilkenny, who then got overrun in the final by Tipp.
“One hundred per cent. We know whoever comes through the quarter-finals in a couple of weeks and whoever we face in four weeks is going to be serious opposition.
“We know we’ll be getting nothing easy in Croke Park but it’s great to be back there. For years Limerick struggled to get to Croke Park so to be up there on a consistent basis over the past number of years is a testament to this group.”
One of many.
